Preserving personal liberty, including the freedom of religion, is key to securing family values in America, Ron Paul said during tonight’s Thanksgiving Family Forum sponsored by The Family Leader.

“The role of government isn’t to mold society and mold people,” he said, in response to one of the night’s first questions. “…Our values should come from our family and from our church.”

Paul noted that people should also have the right to practice atheism, and later added:

“Our goal should be to be to preserve liberty so that we have our religious values and we can make our own decisions,” he said, segueing into an pitch for financial freedom.

“If we can make our self-determination for our hereafter and our spiritual life, certainly on our own personal habits and on our own personal economic habits and how we spend our money — certainly we should assume that the people can do this,” Paul added.